Winners of the First Prize and the Amadeus Prize at the London International String Quartet Competition in 2006, Formosa Quartet is “one of the very best quartets of their generation” (David Soyer, cellist of the Guarneri Quartet). Their debut recording on the EMI label was hailed as “spellbinding” (Strad Magazine) and “remarkably fine” (Gramophone), with the quartet having given critically acclaimed performances at the Ravinia Festival, the Caramoor Festival, the Library of Congress, the Da Camera Society of Los Angeles, the Chicago Cultural Center, the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center, Rice University, San Francisco State University, and Wigmore Hall.

“To sum up, in their Brahms offering, Uchida/Formosa and Delos have given us a modern performance and recording of excellence. The pairing with an impressive performance of a relatively unfamiliar work brings an added enticement. This issue will provide lovers of romantic music with many rewards.” —Rob W McKenzie, MusicWeb International

The five compositions by Shih-Hui Chen (b. 1962) on this recording can be considered variations of an "ethnic style": they reflect her experiences of being able to return to Taiwan for a year in 2010 as a Fulbright Scholar specifically to study its music.